


What's Truly Dead

by theauthor2010



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Character Death, Death, Gen, M/M, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-22
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-12 15:40:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/492865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erica watched Stiles die. She then returned to the Hale house to find Stiles sitting with Jackson and Derek like nothing happened. Why?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To Watch a Friend Die

Erica had watched Stiles die. Gerard had beaten the crap out of him while she wailed and struggled against her electrified bonds. The old man had responded to her pleas to spare Stiles by turning up the electricity, shocking every part of her werewolf system. It had left her helpless and in absolute agony. The electricity coursing through Erica and Boyd had torn them to shreds inside and left them totally unable to do a thing to save Stiles. Boyd had lost consciousness shortly after the voltage was raised, but Erica had remained to watched Stiles die. She had seen it through the pain. Her senses were shot by the electricity but she saw Gerard and two thugs beat the life out of Stiles. He was no longer breathing when they carried him out of the room. They took his body away to the sound of her cries. 

She and Boyd had a run in with Chris Argent after and they'd managed to escape. Still, Erica knew that she would never forget watching the life leave the beaten and battered boy. She'd been overwhelmed by grief when she and Boyd returned to Derek's shell of a home. She'd lost her footing and actually fainted when she saw Stiles sitting on the staircase, talking to Derek and Jackson about something using animated and broad gestures. 

"What's wrong with her?" Derek asked as Boyd went to his knees next to Erica. He very carefully picked the female werewolf in his arms, looking up at Derek and then at Stiles. Stiles Stilinski was supposed to be dead. He knew that much from the desperate, agonized cries from Erica while they ran for their lives. He didn't understand what was going on at all. 

"She just saw a ghost, man," Boyd said, looking to Stiles with suspicion, fear in his eyes. He didn't trust many people in the world, but Erica was one of the few that he would trust with his life. He quickly put Erica down on one of the dusty old sofas. He then turned to look at Stiles, Derek and Jackson. "Stiles, dude, how are you alive?" 

Stiles blinked at that, looking at Boyd like he was out of his mind. "Well, you see, when people breathe they tend to be…alive," he said. He looked back to Derek as if Derek had the answers. Jackson just sat there. Boyd was unsure why he was there of all people. "What about you? Argent said that you two had escaped and it's taken us almost two days to hear from you." 

"Erica watched you die," Boyd said, wondering more and more if Erica had just assumed he died. Of course, before the electricity had led to his losing consciousness, Boyd had seen Stiles beaten and kicked and…he'd sustained a whole lot greater damage than a couple of bruises and a busted cheek. "Stiles, you shouldn't look as okay as you do. This doesn't make sense at all." 

"Alright, just tell me what happened, Boyd," Derek said, in his attempt at taking control.

Boyd told them everything that happened. He told them that he was unconscious, but Erica had seen Stiles beaten to death. She had heard his last breath. She had heard Gerard Argent give his men orders to take Stiles and leave him somewhere that Scott would find him. What was he doing alive? 

"I'm not dead," Stiles said quickly; his voice was a little bit shrill because people kept insisting he was dead when he was very much not. "I don't know why Erica thinks she saw me die, but we have no idea what kind of wolfsbane cocktail they might've slipped her. She must have hallucinated it."

"She probably did," Derek agreed but it was obvious to Stiles that he was hesitant about that statement. "She was being tortured by Argent, Stiles; I'm aware you're not dead..."

"Well will you tell Boyd that because he keeps looking at me like he needs to call Ghost Busters..." Stiles trailed off as he looked at Boyd and Boyd returned his sullen gaze to Erica.

"Do you think she may have hallucinated something?" Derek asked with an amount of tenderness that Stiles hadn't seen on him for awhile. It was a gentle expression and a tilt of his head that meant he cared about the young werewolves. 

"I don't…know…" 

When Erica came to she opened her eyes and stared at Stiles for a long moment. She then started shaking her head, tears streaking down her dirtied cheeks. "This cannot be happening," she said. Erica wasn't usually the most emotional person that Stiles had ever known, but she was obviously panicking. It didn't matter if she was mistaken; she honestly believed that she'd seen Stiles die. Stiles had to take care of her and make sure that she was okay. 

"Erica," he said, kneeling down by her. She moved back on the sofa like she was afraid of Stiles touching her. "Erica, I'm here. I'm alive and it's alright. I can't even imagine what you must have gone through…" 

She still kept a good distance between the two of them, looking at him with eyes that told him he better back off. He did not want her to lash out at him in her frustration. "I don't understand Stiles," she said softly. "I watched you die." She emphasized the word die as hard as she possibly could. 

"Erica, you must have just thought you saw it…" he said. "I'm not making fun. I see things that aren’t happening in my head all the time, without the torture of deranged werewolf hunters involved whatsoever. I understand." 

"No," she said. "I know the difference between reality and a hallucination, I swear…" 

Stiles frowned and then touched her hand. She let him, but there was a hesitance in her actions. 

"Fine…" she whispered."I just need to sleep, okay?"

Stiles was naturally a little bit unnerved by the assertion that he was dead. It didn't make sense and well, even if it wasn't true it felt a little uncomfortable for someone to tell you, without a doubt, that you were dead. His father even sensed his uneasiness as he entered the house. "Stiles, you okay?" he asked. 

"I'm just tired," Stiles dismissed with a smile. "I also really just want to lay down after I finish this stupid Chemistry homework. Wanna watch a movie after dinner?" Stiles missed mundane moments with his father. He also knew he couldn't be dead if he was having this boring everyday conversation.

"That sounds great," his dad said nodding. "I made salad with dinner, you know. I'm being healthy just like you asked…" 

"Perfect," Stiles said, rolling his eyes. "I can't wait to see what disaster you've come up with." 

"Hey, I can make a salad and some chicken," his father responded. "I may not be the world's greatest chef but I'm not inept. Give me a break." 

"Sorry, will do Dad," Stiles said laughing and running up to his room to finish his homework. He was most definitely not dead, because he still had Mr. Harris to contend with. That was jut a fact of life.


	2. Chapter 2

It was stupid, but when Stiles fell asleep that night his dreams were of exactly what Erica had described. In the dream, he was falling unconscious as the people above him just railed on him. This time, of course, it was so dark that he couldn't see their faces. He woke up from the terrible dream just as he felt himself slip away. He groaned and then shoved a pillow over his head to suppress his growling. He was just tired of freaky things happening to him. No, freaky things literally needed to stop happening to him. He was no dead. Erica had just thought she'd seen something that she hadn't seen. 

That afternoon at school he spoke to her at lunch, because his nightmare was still fresh in his head. "I think I'm losing my mind," she whispered, tears rolling down her face, as much as she tried to hide them by wiping them away and tilting her head to the side. They were in the cafeteria and Erica, who had quite a reputation for her strength, did not want to be seen as weak. He could tell she wanted out of there. "I swear to God, Stiles, I would never have said it if I didn't see it." 

"Erica, I'm sure…" he trailed off as he got up, taking her hand and then moving them so that they were in the hallway. 

"Part of me is really scared," she said softly. "I mean, I know this is stupid but part of me can't help think that maybe this is a result of Derek turning a werewolf with a screwed up head. Years of enduring seizures has to have done something to my head. Maybe I'm damaged or something." She sunk down against the lockers, sitting down and looking up at Stiles. 

"Erica," he said, sitting down beside her. He put an arm around her to try and comfort her. "I'm sure that you just thought you saw something because of everything that was being done to you." 

Erica nodded slowly, even though it was obvious that she didn't believe him. "I'm scared," she said honestly. "I'm seeing things and now Derek tells us that there's this Alpha pack coming after us or something? I'm just so tired. You can see why I chose to run away from all of this, can't you?"

"Trust me, Erica," he said with a low snort, because she was voicing his every fear. "I want to get out of here about every five seconds, but we have to be strong and hold on as much as we can, right?" 

"Right," she agreed. 

"You're all badass and stuff, so you'll be just fine," he reassured. That seemed to work, because she smiled at least. Stiles felt confident that he had done something right by her. 

Erica couldn't help smile when Stiles called her badass. She went through the rest of her day thinking that maybe Stiles was right. There was no way that he was dead. He was standing in front of her, talking and breathing like he'd never died. He interacted with the pack and with their other classmates. He was as alive as she was. She was just a teenage girl who happened to be a beta werewolf. She was a teenage girl who had the pressure of explaining her miraculous health, living and existing among a werewolf pack and now a werewolf pack that was under yet another threat.

Derek said that the Alpha Pack was a threat that he didn't yet understand. He said that they were trying to make their presence known to the new alpha in the area, but said that he wasn't sure how far they would go with their threats. He'd heard of packs of alpha werewolves in the past, but had never had any firsthand experience with them. His own family had a pair of alphas and that was it. 

Erica spent a lot of time around Derek after returning. She felt guilty for abandoning her alpha out of fear. Her werewolf side was naturally submissive to him and her human side knew that he was right. He was always right. She vowed to stick with Derek through whatever threats came to them, because he was her family, just as much as Isaac and just as much as Boyd.

There was also her relationship with Boyd to contend with. They had spent a lot of time together, fought together and she could tell that they were starting to fall for each other. It was weird and something she wasn't prepared for. She had imagined that it'd take years and about a thousand years worth of treatments for her seizures to find someone like him. It was just weird. 

It was Saturday afternoon on the week following Stiles' resurrection from the dead and Derek, Isaac, Jackson and Boyd were with her at the house. Derek's frightening uncle was also in the house somewhere but he wasn't with them. Erica didn't know why but he made her uneasy, put her on guard. After all, one of the first things Derek had told them was about the Hale house fire and Peter's resurrection. The man had killed his sister Laura. 

She shuddered at the thought and leaned on Boyd's shoulder. She was trying to keep her cool about everything. "Have we heard anything about the dreaded Alpha Pack?" she asked Derek. She could hear Boyd's heart beating faster. It was kind of addicting having that pull with people. 

"Not yet," Derek said, "but there have been several other threats and warnings left in place around the area." Derek frowned and Erica could sense his uneasiness. "I'm trying to call out for them to make a statement." 

"What's the logic behind that?" Boyd asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Isaac said softly. "We have to call the threat to us on our own terms, before it becomes a threat on someone else's." 

Erica admired Isaac for his honesty and his view of the world. He was the wisest of Derek's betas by far.

"Exactly," Derek said. "I'm going to make the threat present itself." 

Derek, however, struggled greatly with getting the Alpha Pack to come present itself to his pack on his own terms. Two of its members showed up at the door of the Hale house with very little warning on a night when Stiles was dropping Erica off after school. Erica knew in an instant that they had to go to the werewolves in front of them. "That's them?" Stiles asked her, sitting in the driver's seat of his jeep. 

She nodded. "That's them."


	3. Chapter 3

One of the pair of alphas was female. She had red hair that almost had the same hue as blood. She looked directly at them as they pulled up and smiled a sickly sweet smile. "Your alpha tried hard enough to get my pack to come..." she said sweetly. She addressed Erica, completely ignoring Stiles and his presence there. 

"Well what took you so long?" Erica asked clearly, getting out of the jeep. She kept up the sarcasm, sensing Derek near her. Despite her initial distrust of Derek, she knew that he was strong and capable. Erica had learned that running away was far from the answer. She had to stick to her guns. 

"We don't come when we're called," her male companion said. He walked up towards Erica and smiled at her. 

"How well-mannered of you," Derek said, appearing at the doorway of the Hale house. He immediately rushed over to protect his beta if need be. The female just seemed impressed by his entrance. "I'm Derek Hale. What business do you have with my pack?" He snarled at her, his eyes flashing a bright red. She stepped forward and flashed her own eyes right back. Her male companion bared his fangs and snarled. 

"Testing the waters," she said with a sweet smile. She looked over at Stiles. "I know who you are Derek. It seems that you're following in your father's footsteps. He was always a human loving alpha who didn't discourage inter-species dating. Bet you wish that he would have discouraged his son's girlfriend now, huh?" 

That was all it took. Derek lunged at the woman and she sidestepped. As they tangled up with one another, the male went for Erica. "He has such a pretty pack," he cooed as he rushed for her. She dodged expertly, but not before the alpha got himself a grip on her throat. He quickly grasped her by the neck, pressing her into the nearest tree. She spit at him, feeling the transformation take hold with a sort of joy. She growled and shoved the alpha off of her. He went back, claws bared. 

The moment that his claws penetrated her skin, something happened to Stiles. "I wonder if your alpha would shed a tear if we killed his pretty blonde beta," the wolf purred darkly. He didn't notice the light that was starting to reflect off of Stiles. A white light illuminated his form and he looked scared to death. He grabbed the alpha by the back of his shirt collar and pulled. It was like the werewolf had been electrocuted. 

He flew backwards and hit the ground. He lay paralyzed, as if his entire body was sizzling with the energy that Stiles had just thrown at him. Stiles stood next to Erica, staring with wide eyes and in total shock. "I…don't know what that was…" he said. 

The female alpha immediately let go of Derek and rushed to her companion's side. She picked him up and fled from them frantically. 

"What was that?" Derek asked, joining them. He looked at Stiles with curiosity and maybe just a little bit of fear.

"I don't know," Stiles said in a total daze. "That dude had his claws in the back of Erica's neck and he was acting like he wanted to kill her. It just shot out of me." Erica could hear Stiles' heartbeat as she leaned close to him. He was confused and honestly just a little bit scared. 

"It was like lightening," she said. "Some kind of magic..." 

They went back into the house and Stiles sat back down. "How do you feel?" Derek asked Stiles, who was just staring off with a blank expression on his face. Erica knew that Derek wanted some sort of explanation but she was pretty sure that Stiles didn't even have one to give to them. 

"I feel like you do after you accidentally electrocute yourself," Stiles said honestly. "Everything is buzzing…" 

"Try to relax," Erica said softly. "Derek, where are our boys?"

Derek looked at her for a moment and then it seemed to hit him that she was talking about Boyd and Isaac. "Isaac is with Scott and Boyd said that he had to do some things for school. Don't ask me where Jackson is," Derek said softly. He seemed honestly confused. Erica couldn't help start to wonder if this had something to do with what she'd seen. She was still so convinced that she had seen Stiles die. It hadn't been something that she could fake or hallucinate. 

"I'm going to call Scott," Stiles said, looking from Derek to Erica. He then walked off into one of the more secluded corners, a look of horror on his face. 

"I'm gonna call Boyd," Erica said in time, nodding.

Derek went upstairs. 

It only took about twenty minutes to assemble the entire wolf pack, so to speak. Scott and Isaac arrived first and immediately joined Erica in mother-henning over Stiles. "What happened?" Scott asked Erica. It bothered Erica how little respect that Scott gave Derek, but she didn't say anything because it wasn't the moment. She answered. 

"I don't know," she said. "A couple of those alphas came and went after us. The guy had his claws in the back of my neck and was threatening me. This bolt of energy just came from Stiles and knocked him flat on his ass." 

She immediately curled into Boyd when he walked through the door. The other werewolf made her feel comfortable and at ease. It was nice. He wrapped an arm around her and hung out with her in the corner as they all tried to figure out what to do. "I think that we should go see Doctor Deaton," Scott finally suggested. He then explained to those that didn't know that his boss had some sort of abilities. 

Stiles nodded bluntly. "Let's go talk to our resident witch veterinarian," he scoffed. 

"Erica, go with Scott and Stiles," Derek ordered her. She turned and nodded at her alpha's words. Scott looked like he wanted to object so she wrapped an arm around either boy. 

"Come on boys," she said, her tone smoky and demanding. "Let's see what comes next in the adventure of weirdness that is our lives."


	4. Chapter 4

Scott and Erica immediately took Stiles to the veterinarian's office. Stiles didn't know what was going on and quite frankly it scared him to death. He had just done something extraordinary, just days after one of his friends presumed him dead. Scared to death was actually probably a very, very bad pun.

Doctor Deaton seemed completely nonplussed by their sudden arrival. The guy, in Stile's opinion, was just the definition of chill. "Scott, Stiles," he said, not even halting in what he was doing, which looked like fixing up a dog's busted leg. 

"We have a situation," Scott said.

"A big one," Stiles added. 

"Not all that surprising," the veterinarian said, but his words seemed good natured. "Give me one moment to finish up here and we'll talk about it. You are…Miss Reyes, correct?" he asked. He always seemed to be far more in-the-know than anyone. It kind of creeped Stiles out but at the same time told him that Scott's boss was the person they needed. 

"That's me," Erica said casually. She always seemed comfortable, but Stiles could tell there was something deeper inside of her that was nervous about it. "Nice to meet you, I suppose." 

"Now what's the issue?" Doctor Deaton asked them. 

"I'm the issue," Stiles said. Doctor Deaton stared at them. At finally having the man's attention, Stiles continued. "We were attacked by a pair of alpha from the new pack. I saw one of them hurt Erica and I wanted to protect her. Something came out of me."   
Deaton raised an eyebrow at that and Erica, evidently tired of Stiles' beating around the bush, explained herself. "It was like a bolt of energy," she said. "It knocked him flat on his ass like lightning." 

The man seemed at least a little bit alarmed by that. It was like his chill aura broke. "A bolt of lightning, hmm?" he asked. 

"There's another thing," Erica said, her tone dark and firm. "I thought that, no, I know that I saw Stiles die when we were being held by the hunters. I know it's crazy and everyone thinks I'm crazy and doesn't believe me, but that has to be connected somehow, right?" 

"Hmm, it does seem that way."   
Stiles listened as Erica told Deaton in cautious tones exactly what happened the day that Stiles died. Stiles was incredibly disturbed by the entire tone of the conversation, looking at Scott, who looked back in something that vaguely resembled sympathy. "It seems like you witnessed something   
extraordinary, yes, but it's nothing that I've ever come into contact before. Stiles, is there anything about your family that you can tell me?" 

"Well my mom was a vampire and my dad's Bigfoot…" Stiles started. "No, seriously, dude, we're as normal as they come."

"Supernatural bloodlines aren't always as evident as that," Deaton said. "I'll talk to a contact of mine and get to you as soon as possible. Let me know if any further occurances of this ability occur." 

"Will do," Stiles said blankly. 

They left Doctor Deaton's office with no further information than they arrived with. It wasn't doing anything for the anxiety that was making Stiles feel like jumping out of his skin. Scott wasn't able to do much more, so he headed off to Allison's. Stiles tried his best to make light of the whole situation, turning to Erica, who was sitting in the jeep's passenger side, and shooting her a smile. "I can't believe that he and Allison are just as annoying when they're not dating," he said. Erica cracked a small smile so that meant that she was at least humoring him. She'd sobered up a lot since her kidnapping by the hunters.

"Stiles," she said, completely changing the subject and looking just as uneasy as he felt. "Why did you even try to protect me from that alpha?" 

"I didn't exactly control my magical lightning abilities," he pointed out.

"Not that," she said. "You did it with Isaac and I once before with the Kanima. You know that we, werewolves, are a lot physically stronger than you are and even if we take a ton of damage, our bodies will heal it. Yours won't. I just don’t get why you're so brave and strong." 

"Aw, does someone have a little crush on me?" Stiles asked, trying to diffuse the tense situation with humor. 

"Sorry sweetie," she said gently. "You may be my Batman but I have another person in my head all the time who gives me those funny butterflies." He smiled at that, knowing that she and Boyd sort of had a thing, whatever that thing was. He could sense it, even if he wasn't as perceptive as his werewolf peers. "I just think that you're one of the bravest people I know." 

"I'm not brave," Stiles said. "I just stick up for people."   
"Same difference," she said honestly. "I'm just glad that you're part of the pack." 

He stopped at her words because well, he'd definitely never seen himself as part of the wolf pack. He broke into a smile, because even though it wasn't officially sanctioned by the big, mean, growly alpha, it was a pretty nice thing to hear from Erica. He was a member of the pack and would do anything for them. Hey, maybe he would earn his supernatural wings pretty soon anyway now that he was shooting magical bolts of energy out of nowhere.


	5. Chapter 5

When they met at the Hale house to talk about the threat of the Alpha Pack, Derek seemed incredibly focused on Stiles. Stiles wasn't the only one to notice this, if Erica and Boyd's playful expressions meant anything. After they came to the very obvious conclusion that nobody had any idea what they were doing and they needed more help from Peter, who was hard to trust as it was, the crowd broke off. That was when Derek got him alone. "Stiles, has anything else happened with your abilities?" he asked, looking very concerned. 

"I haven't shot out any magical bolts of lightning, if that's what you're talking about," Stiles said with a playful grin. Derek just shot back an annoyed expression. He was so humorless sometimes. 

"Good," Derek said. "Are you feeling any different?"

Stiles shook his head but couldn't help make a small dig at Derek's concern. "Why Derek Hale," he said playfully. "If I didn't know any better I would say that you actually care about me." 

"I do," Derek said, as if that was obvious. That made Stiles smile because he honestly wasn't ever sure about Derek. He was eternally sour, that was all Stiles knew. He hid the rest of his emotions in an expert way. 

"Aw Derek, that's so sweet," Stiles gushed over dramatically, which of course led to the wolf shoving him back a little. He took a step forward and looked Derek in the eyes. He'd always been slightly attracted to Derek. It was nice to be able to get close enough to him to start to figure out the bits and pieces that made Derek who he was. There was a tension between them and it was interesting, to say the least. 

As they stared at each other for a long moment, there came a call from the other room. It was Erica. "We can smell the sexual tension between you two weirdos from a mile away," she called. Stiles could hear giggles that he was sure belonged to Scott and Isaac. Really mature, weren't they? 

"There is not sexual tension between us. Right Derek?" 

At that, Derek walked away. Stiles groaned. Not only was he dead, but he was also dealing with a crazy werewolf with issues. His life was great. 

Erica was not really sure what was going on. She was certain that Stiles was killed that night. Even though everyone else told her that there was a reason for her to have doubts, she couldn't believe them. She knew what it was like to lose control and she had not lost control that night. She had been perfectly aware of her surroundings. She had heard him stop breathing. 

It was deeply concerning. Stiles had come back from his death as something else. 

Then there was the Alpha Pack. None of them were really certain what they wanted. All that Peter had told Derek was that wolves were very into territory and possibly growing their ranks, but none of the werewolves were alphas. They couldn't recruit from their pack of alphas from a group of betas. That was unless their intention was to recruit Derek, but no offense meant to him, he wasn't that great as an alpha. 

They were also freaking strong. Erica had felt completely overpowered in her tussle with one of the alphas. She had a feeling that if they wanted to take the life, liberty or territory from Derek's ragtag bunch of teenagers then they were going to take it.

"You okay?" Boyd asked her, coming up from behind as Erica thought about what the next step to take was. 

She smiled at him. She wasn't sure if she and Boyd were going to be together forever, or any of those silly romantic notions, but she was pretty sure that she cared about him in a way that she'd never cared for another person. "Yeah I'm okay," she said. "I'm just worried about the alpha pack. I want to know what they want at least, so that we're not left wondering." 

"Same here," he said softly. "It's really confusing." 

"Then there's the issue of Stiles," she said. "We really need to find out what he is and why." 

"I've been trying to do some research," Boyd said honestly. "Jackson and Lydia have too, even though he's being a bit of a jackass about it. We're all trying to dig as deep as we can to find out about creatures that die and come back to life. We haven't found much, unless Stiles is like a god or something." Boyd snorted at the idea, but Erica honestly couldn't dismiss that. Maybe Stiles was a demon or a god or some kind of creature. 

He rubbed her shoulders lightly, trying to comfort her. She smiled at the comfort because well, it was honestly so nice to have someone there for her. "Thanks," she said softly. 

"He'll be okay," Boyd said. "In case you haven't noticed, Stiles has special favor with our alpha." He smiled at that, a smile that reached his eyes. It seemed like everyone but Derek realized that Derek was in love with Stiles. Stiles was even starting to catch on. Erica knew, of course, that they had to make sure that they didn't die before hooking up Derek and Stiles, but that was definitely on her overall to-do list. 

"He does," she said. "It's pretty awesome." 

"And pretty annoying," Boyd said with a laugh, tugging her close. She leaned up against his shoulder, enjoying the warmth and the steady beating of his heart. He was pretty damned awesome. Erica couldn't ever regret becoming a werewolf. It had given her health, strength and vitality, as well as a group of people that she loved. She loved them all. She turned her head and Boyd impulsively kissed her lips. She kissed him back, grinning. There was a small chance that Boyd had a higher position on that list then the rest of them. "It'll all be okay, Erica," he promised, brushing a hand against her cheek. 

"It will," Erica agreed. She knew that they would figure it all out. She was just not a big fan of the whole not-knowing thing, especially when that not-knowing came in the form of some kind of danger to her and her family. When they messed with her family, that was when it became all out war, regardless of their intentions.


	6. Chapter 6

He realized shortly after leaving Deaton's office that Derek and Peter Hale both felt the same way about the alpha pack. "This really bothers me," Peter said nonchalantly, like the concern was nothing but a passing worry. "I do not understand why an alpha pack has approached you, marked you and yet has not declared any sort of intention. I would be watching my pups very closely if I were you, Derek." 

Derek nodded a little bit. "I understand Peter." 

He then got up, brushed past his uncle and ran straight into Stiles. Stiles waved awkwardly and Derek stared at him with his eternally sour expression. "What's going on?" he asked Derek, slipping his hands into his pocket and shifting. 

"I'm – nothing," Derek snapped at Stiles. "H-how are you doing? Have there been any other…incidences?" 

Stiles tilted his head to the side. There was definitely a part of the werewolf that cared about him. He decided that he definitely liked that part. "No, no incidences," he said. "I'm incidence free."

"Good," Derek said.

"Worried about me?" Stiles asked softly. He was teasing Derek slightly, but the fact that the werewolf might actually care about him made him smile.

"I'm worried about anything risking a member of my pack," Derek said in a huff. 

"Oh, I see how it is," Stiles said, and then his smile widened. "Derek Hale, do you see puny little me as a part of your pack?" 

Derek tried to shift away from the question. "Stiles, the fact of the matter is, you're human, despite whatever strange abilities have started to develop in you. I'm afraid that the alpha pack will use the knowledge that we have a human in our midst to hurt us. I want you to make sure that you're safe. Don't go anywhere alone and…" Stiles smiled. Derek trailed off because of his smile. "What?" 

"You care about me," Stiles declared jovially, mostly because he knew that it would piss Derek off. "In all seriousness, though, Derek, I'm pretty aware of my humanness. I'm going to take care of myself. I promise. Even though I know that you would go all alpha and save me if I ever became a damsel in distress." 

"I'm not very good at taking care of this pack, Stiles." 

In that moment, he could really see Derek's struggles. "Aw, c'mon Derek, that's so far from true," he said. "You keep everyone together now. Sure, some of your little werewolf pups decided to deflect, but that's because they're scared teenagers, not because you suck. You're just learning. You're like a badass alpha-in-training." 

"They deserve better," Derek said softly and aw man, Stiles really felt sorry for him. He could easily pick up on the pain and annoyance. Who would have known that Derek was such a vulnerable person when you got him cornered with no place to go. "Peter even thinks that the alpha pack might try and turn them on me. God knows that it'd be easy, wouldn't it Stiles?" 

Stiles frowned because God, Derek was so sad. He immediately walked forward and pulled the werewolf into a hug. Derek resisted and he honestly could have clawed Stiles eyes out if he wanted to, but instead he let Stiles hug him and even awkwardly squeezed him back. Oh, he tried. Derek tried so hard.


	7. Chapter 7

Erica was just leaving school when she was approached by someone. She heard them behind her and whipped her head around. To her surprise, it was not someone that she knew but a certain red haired alpha werewolf. Her claws immediately extended and her eyes flashed. What the hell was the woman doing approaching her like this? She gave a predatory glare, preventing herself from growling even though the wolf was screaming to do so. 

"Now now," the redhead said as Erica's claws emerged. "We don't want to alarm anyone around us. I just want to talk to you, not make a scene. "

"Since when do you care about humans?" Erica asked, glancing around. As oblivious as ever, nobody around them noticed anything strange about their confrontation. It was weird how stupidly out of sorts people could be.

"You're making assumptions about my pack," she drawled. "We have no issue with humans as long as they remain in their place." 

"What do you want from me?" she asked. She wasn't for beating around the bush and wanted the female wolf to just get to the point. It was a waste of time. She started walking, wanting to get as far away from the human population as possible. Even though the alpha claimed that she just wanted to talk or whatever, Erica had a feeling that a confrontation between two female werewolves could end in blood. It was only natural. 

"Like I said, to talk." They walked for awhile until they reached the opening of the woods. Erica turned towards the woman and stared her down. Yeah, she was scared but there was no way in hell that she was going to let it show. She had vowed since Derek turned her into a werewolf that she wouldn't show weakness. That hadn't always worked out for her, but she at least tried to keep that promise. 

"Start talking," she said. 

"I wanted to talk to you about your little pack," the woman said. "My name is Olivia, by the way. When we heard about the resurgence of a pack in Beacon Hills, I have to say that we hoped for better. The Hale family was once a very strong pack, but despite this strength was destroyed by a single weakness. Do you know what that weakness was?" 

"The fact that even werewolves aren't immune to fire?" 

"The fact that they were stupid enough to trust humans, trust those outside of the pack structure," she said. "Of course, I shouldn't be too surprised given that the one who destroyed the entire pack is now the alpha of his own little ragtag band of misfits." 

"You're really starting to piss me off," Erica said. 

"What is that boy?" Olivia asked with an arrogant, but genuinely curious tone. "He definitely shook Orion up with that lightning blast or whatever it was. So tell me, sweetie, what was he?" 

"I'll leave that to your imagination," Erica said, feeling suddenly defensive of Stiles. She had to protect him at all costs. "All you need to know is that that boy is a part of our pack and if you mess with him then you're messing with us."   
The woman turned around and leaned back against a tree with one foot, kicking her heel into it. "You really care about the boy," she said. "I'd think he was your mate if your alpha didn't smell like desire and fear the moment he entered the picture. I know that no sane wolf would cross her alpha's lines, even if they're not mated." 

"You got that right," Erica said, unable to deny Derek's attraction to Stiles because hell, even most humans could probably smell that. "I want you to tell me why you and your pack are here. Derek thinks it's a territory thing, but I know better. Who the hell would want Beacon Hills as territory?" 

"It's a good spot," the woman said, "but it's not completely about territory." 

"Then what's it about?' 

"You know, sweetie, you would make a good alpha yourself," the woman cooed at Erica. "I can tell that submission would never suit you." When Erica rolled her eyes she chuckled. "I'm the same. I would never submit, especially not to a man like Hale. He's not cut out for the job of alpha, as I've said." 

"Is this just a shit talk Derek session?" she asked growling.

"No, but come on," she scoffed. "Killing your whole family, your whole pack, that's kind of got to be reason to doubt someone's leadership abilities." 

"Hunters killed the Hale family," erica said quickly. Yes, she knew that the circumstances involved Derek but she was very protective of him.

"Trust me, sweetie," the alpha said. "Your boy may be a good man, but he's going to bring you all to ruin. He's been known to throw his pack under the bus to get what he wants. "

"Oh go away," Erica groaned.

"Oh fine," she said with an exhausted growl. "When you grow tired of Hale's inadequacies, call me sweet cheeks." 

With that, the alpha was gone, leaving Erica wondering why the hell she had singled her out in the first place. She hadn't sought a fight, she had merely been trying to seduce Erica over to her side of things. Something told Erica that the alpha pack wasn't exactly hard up for members, either. It was just suspicious that was all. 

She immediately went back to the Hale house. She had to tell Derek about it. While it was true that Erica had doubted Derek's abilities as an alpha and her loyalties had waned, she now trusted the man more than ever and she wanted to help him keep the pack safe and bring them to their full potential. The pack may have been a messed up one, but it was still her family. She opened the door to the Hale house and walked inside. "Derek!" she called. 

Isaac instead appeared. "He's not here," the beta said. 

"I am also getting a really bad feeling about this," Boyd filled in. 

"We need to go talk to Stiles and Scott," Erica said .


	8. Chapter 8

Scott and Stiles had no idea where Derek was either. "How am I supposed to know?" Scott asked, in a way that made Erica want to growl at him. "He's not my alpha. Aren't you supposed to keep a better eye on him?" 

"He's not a two year old, Scott," Erica said, rolling her eyes. She wouldn't have been so moody with the rouge wolf, but the fact of the matter was that Derek was missing and it was making her nervous. "I'm just a little unnerved because I had a run in with one of the alpha pack. I think that's reason Derek's sudden disappearance might be of some concern, don't you?" 

"Guys," Stiles said in warning. He looked truly nervous. “Erica, what happened with the alpha?”

“It was that female with red hair,” she explained to them. “She basically just went on a psychopathic rant about how Derek fails as an alpha. She seemed to be attempting to bring me over to the dark side, but it seemed forced.” 

“She was probably trying to distract you so that her cronies could kidnap Derek!” Stiles said in a voice that Erica would have teased him for in any other situation. He sounded so shrill and scared. 

“Boyd and I were at the house,” Isaac cut in. 

“I don’t know the psychopath logic behind it,” Stiles said sarcastically. He was obviously scared for Derek. 

If they had any questions as to whether or not Derek’s disappearance was related to the alpha pack or not, those doubts were quelled by the flaming arrow that cascaded in front of Scott’s window. Immediately the whole pack ran downstairs to check it out. The arrow had lodged itself in the lawn. Isaac went and extinguished it and plucked it out of the ground. “Dramatic aren’t they?” he asked as he revealed a scrap of paper with the alpha pack’s symbol on it. 

“What do we do?” Boyd asked looking at the rest of the pack with his deep, logical expression. “We don’t even know where they’d take Derek. I mean, probably the woods, but still…where in the woods?”

“Maybe we need to go back to the house,” Scott said. 

Stiles wasn’t speaking. Erica was the only one to notice the sudden change in his demeanor. He froze up and had a strange expression on his face. He was biting his lip, as though something was making him very uncomfortable. “Stiles, what’s wrong?” she asked, her concern for her friend showing through.

“I know where he is,” Stiles said softly. “I can see it in my head…” 

Scott looked at his best friend with an expression of concerned skepticism. “Dude,” he said softly, “how can you know where Derek is? None of us know where he is…” 

“I don’t know how,” Stiles said, looking so unnerved that Erica wanted to reach her arms around him and hug him. He looked so insecure and vulnerable. “I wish I knew how I…knew, but I can show you guys exactly where he is.” 

“How?” Isaac asked. 

“Don’t you know enough to trust the kid with random freakish powers?” Erica asked Isaac, somewhat loudly. She was starting to feel testy. 

Stiles rolled his eyes at her, but she sensed his relief that she had his back. “Let’s take my jeep,” he said, “just so I can see if this feeling is right…” 

“Follow in Boyd’s truck,” Erica told Boyd and Isaac. She took charge because nobody else would. That alpha had one thing right about Erica Reyes: she could be a leader when she needed to be. She would never be the girl without confidence ever again. She grabbed Scott and Stiles and headed into the jeep. 

They drove as quickly as they possibly could. Stiles seemed driven by an invisible hand, beckoning him in the right direction. When Stiles stopped the jeep they were deep in the Beacon Hills forest again. “It’s here,” Stiles said as he stopped the jeep and got out. They followed him quickly. Behind them, Boyd and Isaac got out of the other car. Stiles led them over to a cave-like formation. “Derek is in there,” he whispered. 

“Are you sure?” Scott asked. 

Erica was, like the rest of the pack, hesitant to follow Stiles’ random feeling, but unlike the rest of them she had a feeling that he was right. “So what do we do?” she asked softly. “Do we just go in there and attack? These are alphas and they’re a hell of a lot more experienced than we are.” 

“I would not recommend just going in there at all.” 

The entire pack whipped around to find themselves face to face with Peter Hale. The deranged former alpha looked at them and rolled his eyes dramatically. “You are such children,” Peter declared. “I’ve dealt with alpha packs in the past. I will admit that I was young, but I know one thing about them: you simply do not send in a group of beta werewolves with metaphorical guns blazing.” 

“Why is that?” Erica asked, stepping up. If she was going to make herself makeshift leader of the pack while Derek was otherwise incapacitated then she was going to have to stand up to creepy uncle Peter too. .

“There is a significant danger that this pack is trying to recruit a new member, for one,” Peter said, looking at them as if he was gauging their reactions. He smiled at them. “If the alphas get ahold of one of you that they really want,” he said, looking at Erica pointedly at this moment, “then he or she may force you to kill Derek, this giving you alpha status and forcing a pleasant shift of loyalties.” 

Erica swallowed. The red-haired alpha really seemed to take an interest in her. The possibility of being forced to kill someone, especially Derek, made her heart lurch slightly. “So what do we do then?” Scott asked before she could say another word. She was thankful for that. 

“Use Stiles,” Peter said, eyes moving to where Stiles stood. When he looked at Stiles, the rest of the pack naturally followed suit. “He has a power that is extraordinary and is not going to be limited by the force of simple biology.” 

Stiles spoke up at that. “Look, Uncle Creeper,” he said, “I want to help Derek, but I have no idea how to control these abilities I seem to have.” 

At that, Peter laughed, transforming instantly. He lunged at Erica.


	9. Chapter 9

Before her wolf senses could even kick in, Stiles was activated. A burst of light sprang forth from within him. It hit Peter square in the chest and sent him flying into a tree. The former alpha laughed, even as he struggled to get back to his feet and catch his breath. "See?" he said with a know-it-all grin. "It has to be Stiles." He hoisted himself up to his feet and smiled wider. Erica wanted to hit him. 

Everyone seemed a little horrified by Peter’s proposition, except for Stiles. Stiles was looking grim standing beside Scott. He nodded slowly. “I think that he has a point,” Stiles said delicately. He looked very uncomfortable about the whole thing, but had his jaw clenched in a resolved way. “I should be the one to save Derek. I have this weird mojo going down and there’s a reason I could sense Derek.” 

“That’s crazy,” Scott said immediately.

“It is a little crazy,” Stiles agreed, looking at Peter. “This comes mostly from the fact that it was a psychopath’s idea. Still, I don’t want any of you wolves becoming brand new alpha pack members and well, Derek can’t die. I won’t let him.” Stiles, in that moment, didn’t care that he was revealing his feelings for Derek for the whole pack to see. Erica was pretty sure they didn’t care, given that there were bigger issues to deal with at the moment. 

“It’s a lot crazy,” Isaac said, looking at Stiles with a glare. 

“There is no way that you’re going to do this,” Erica told Stiles. The human was completely reckless and she was not going to watch idly while he got himself killed. She moved to touch him on the shoulder and he brushed right past her. Stiles knew none of them would stop him as he went into the alpha’s lair. 

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Erica said, immediately going after him, or well, she tried to.

Boyd stopped her with a strong hand on her shoulder. He looked her in the eyes and she could only see his love and concern. Sometimes that overwhelmed her about Boyd. He didn’t say much but he was strong, capable and the best person for them to have in the pack. He calmed down her rages easily. “Erica, you gotta let Stiles go,” he said. “I don’t think we can risk losing Derek and…well Stiles won’t kill him. I dunno how I know that but I just do.”

“Yeah I know it too,” Erica said. There was something instinctive in her that knew Stiles was incapable of harming Derek. “I can’t let him go in alone Boyd.” She looked him in the eyes and tried to convey to him the things only he would understand. Sometimes she wondered if Boyd was her mate or something because she could speak to him without words. She looked deep into his eyes, conveying her desperation, her need to go and make sure that Stiles and Derek were safe. He saw that desperation and nodded. 

“Please don’t die on me,” he said softly. “I need you Erica.” 

“I promise,” she said and with that, she took off after Stiles.


	10. Chapter 10

Stiles walked into the alpha’s lair unarmed. Well, he was armed but that was merely with whatever freaky powers had been activated by his so-called death. He was terrified, but didn’t let it show. “Hardly an evil lair,” he mumbled under his breath, as he took in the dirt walls and lack of any security at the mouth of the cave. He went in deeper, not really sure what the hell he was supposed to do. He knew the alphas were threatening Derek’s existence but he wasn’t sure that his weird mojo would work unless the alphas were actually, at that moment, physically putting Derek at risk. 

“Come out and play wolfies,” he said, trying his best to be strong. He knew that someone was going to follow him into the cave sooner or later, because despite the very clear warning given by Peter, the wolves were idiots. He looked around and that was when he found what he was looking for.

“What do we have here?” asked a young looking alpha, smiling and then looking to his left. Next to him was Derek. Derek was chained against the wall. He was awake, but his eyes were blurry. He was drugged somehow, his head lolling to the side awkwardly as Stiles’ name hung on his lips. 

“You know who I am and what I can do,” Stiles said softly. He knew that even if this boy hadn’t been there that all the alphas knew exactly what he was capable of. He tried to act intimidating, as if his abilities were some reason for the werewolves to fear him. He knew it was stupid but he had to be strong for Derek’s sake.

“Stiles…” Derek whispered. 

"You're not a werewolf," the boy said, looking at Stiles like he was trying his hardest to rip him apart mentally and see what was inside. "Despite all your special abilities it’s quite obvious that you're merely human. This must mean that you're this pathetic excuse for an alpha's mate, correct?" 

Stiles rolled his eyes, keeping up his signature charm and confidence. "Yep that's me," he said. "Stiles Stilinski, mating up all your alphas. You wanna go round two, big boy?”

The boy laughed. "I can smell desire coming off of you towards this wannabe alpha," he said, touching Derek's bared chest with a claw. "You're also afraid I'll hurt him." He looked at Stiles and the threat was there. Stiles tried to call upon his powers but couldn’t do anything. He tried to find that light from within himself but nothing rose to the surface. He flinched in frustration. What was the point of having freakish powers if they weren’t going to work when he needed them the most?

Fortunately, the alpha’s claws sank into Derek’s flesh and he clawed a long line down Derek’s chest. Derek winced in sudden pain and Stiles felt the light grow from within. Of course he would have the world’s most literal superpowers. The blast picked the alpha up and slammed him into the wall next to Derek. Its force didn’t even touch Derek. He crumbled into a heap at that.

At that the alphas attacked, claws drawn. There were at least six or seven of them at the moment and Stiles was trapped. His stupid powers wouldn’t go off and the swipe of a female’s claws left him collapsed on the ground right next to the wolf he’d just blasted. He forced himself to his feet, trying not to show the pain that he was in. Derek, still restrained, looked at what was going on with dull and blank eyes. It was obvious that he had been very much drugged. 

That was when the female who clawed him let out a pained shriek. Stiles whipped himself around to see that Erica had dug her nails into the woman’s shoulder and yanked her back. Erica? Stiles shook his head, despite the fact that he’d known Scott or Erica was going to follow. He was hoping for once that the irrational yet heroic wolves in his life shut up and let him do his magic mojo. “Come after me boys,” Erica snarled, as she backed up against a wall, leaving the werewolves to pursue her. Stiles immediately knew what she was doing. 

Because when one of the alphas grabbed Erica by the throat his bullshit magic worked again and flung out of him like a lightning bolt. It was like he was magically lifting up the alphas and throwing them away from Erica, taking his friend out of harm’s way. It was a trip and left him absolutely breathless, staring at what he was doing.

Stiles was so caught up in using his mojo on the wolves that were hurting Erica that he didn’t see the slender, young male come up from behind him and toss him back down to the ground. His fist slammed into Stiles’ side and he fell, fell straight on his wrist. “Fuck!” he screamed as he felt the bone breaking underneath him. The boy was immediately on his back, tugging his good arm behind him and leaving the busted one useless under him. “I get how your voodoo shit works,” the wolf snarled. “We mess with little Miss Action Barbie and you go all nuts. Evan, back off.” He pulled Stiles back to his feet, holding him tightly. Stiles struggled to get away but to no avail. “We can’t hurt her, yet. That’s what activates whatever the hell is wrong with this one.” 

Two alphas grabbed Erica by did nothing to harm her. Stiles watched in horror as they expertly restrained her, but that was all.


	11. Chapter 11

Erica struggled against the two alphas that had her, but she was no match for them. She felt the wolf inside of her as she kept half transformed and glaring, but the wolf was as scared as the human girl was. These alphas might not have been her alpha, but the werewolf inside of her knew exactly how powerful they were and frankly, it had its figurative tail between its legs. She tried her best to kick and bite and scratch but her pitiful attempts just made them laugh. She couldn’t help get angry at herself. When had she become so weak? 

The two boys dragged her over to where Derek was held. She struggled but at the same time she couldn’t put her feet down firmly enough. She met his eyes and he looked at her with a drugged sense of wonder. She didn’t know what they could have used to knock a full grown alpha flat on his ass, but somehow they had. Derek’s head lolled to the side and he almost looked amused at the sight of her. As inefficient as Derek was, Erica had always looked up to him profoundly. It was hard to see him like that. 

The redheaded alpha from earlier approached her, sauntering over with a sweet, yet seductive glare. “You don’t realize how easy it is, do you?” she asked as she held Erica’s wrist, guiding her hand to Derek’s throat. “I provoke you enough and you’re going to react in a way that’s natural for the beast within. You won’t care that this is your alpha, that you have human emotions towards him. You will go in for the kill and we will have a new pet.” 

“Dream on,” Erica said, but the female alpha’s soft words reminded her of just how easily she could become their toy. She was human but at the same time she was a slave to animalistic urges in a way that no other sixteen year old girl would ever have to deal with. If the instinctive, animalistic part of her brain decided that it was being threatened, it would react. She would react and become a killer, even as the human side of her protested. “I’m nobody’s pawn, idiot.”

Erica looked over to Stiles desperately. She saw that the human was still being held, clutching his broken wrist with a look of pure agony on his face. He looked back at her and she realized that she couldn’t ask him to save her. He was a human where she was a werewolf. She started struggling anew, kicking as hard as she could manage. It couldn’t get her free from the iron grip on her wrist, unfortunately. She tried as hard as she could to fight, so afraid of killing Derek. She pulled back her wrist just inches, but it was enough to make her feel her own capabilities. 

Stiles’ abilities then went off in a concentrated burst. Erica felt the sting of the heat all around her and she was knocked off of her feet. The blast wasn’t for her though. It was for the female who had been flung halfway across the cavern. Erica pulled her arm back, the sting of the tight hold still there. She looked at Stiles who was staring in awe. She looked around herself and Stiles and there was a group of unconscious alphas on the ground below them. They were coming back to though, quickly.

Erica quickly rushed to Derek and used that moment to break the chains that were holding him. They were stronger than she could usually break fully transformed, but she supposed there was something to say about pure, raw energy. Derek still looked at her with a confused, dazed expression. “Erica?” he asked, his voice raw. 

“That’s my name sweetie,” she said, before lifting up the alpha. “Stiles, let’s get out of here! Run ahead of us!” He might have been the one who saved them but the fact of the matter was that he was still human. He still ran like a human, bled like a human and hurt like a human. She was not going to let Stiles get himself killed. Stiles nodded at her words and ran ahead of the two of them.

“What are you doing?” Derek asked in that dazed, confused tone. If the emergency wasn’t dire she would have found it cute.

“Saving your ass,” she said softly. She could hear the alphas starting to rouse and she picked up her speed. Derek looked at her like he was going to be sick. “Stiles, go quicker they’re gaining on us.” She couldn’t risk turning back to look but she could feel that they needed to get out of there and as fast as they possibly could. As they reached the air, she saw that Stiles had stopped.

“Stiles, move!” she shrieked. 

It seemed, however, that the human had other ideas. “Let me do something Erica,” he said, swallowing and closing his eyes. He raised both of his hands and closed his eyes. She felt like she was paused in suspended animation for a split second before the boom roared into her senses, nearly deafening her. There was no mistake that she was seeing the cavern behind them go up into a white hot explosion. It was obvious then that Stiles had cornered his abilities and was far more than a typical human. She stared at her friend in confusion.

He took a breath and lowered his hands. His eyes were watery. “Scott’s not far…” she said. Stiles nodded and they rushed off.


	12. Chapter 12

They arrived at Deaton’s office breathing heavily, despite the fact that they’d driven most of the way there in the jeep. There was just so much anxiety and fear. Derek lay back against the seat, not even there. It seemed, to Stiles at least, that the other man was in another world. What on earth could those alphas have given a full grown alpha werewolf to do that to him? It didn’t make much sense to him. When they pulled up, he and Erica worked together to get Derek up and out of the car. “You’re way too damned heavy,” Stiles quipped under his breath.

It didn’t take long, however, for Stiles and Erica to get Derek to the front lobby. The veterinarian slash witch was cleaning a countertop in the front of the office. He looked at them with a peculiar expression before springing into action. 

“What happened?” the man asked, taking Derek to the examination table. It seemed like he singlehandedly carried Derek over to the table. Stiles did not understand many things about the world but Deaton was one of those big mysteries. What was he and why did he do what he did? It made no sense at all.

Deaton examined Derek carefully. He took his heart rate and temperature and then listened to his breathing. “He’s not in any immediate physical crisis,” he said as he worked, probably because both the werewolf and the strange human were staring at him with desperate eyes. “His heart rate is a little bit sluggish and his internal temperature is low for a werewolf, but he’s recovering. It’s gone up as we’ve been sitting here.” He took blood from Derek’s left arm quickly and efficiently, an odd expression on his face as he moved. “I need to take some blood and figure out what kind of compound they used. It’s wolfsbane by its nature but it seems to be synthesized to some degree. It’ll be an amazing breakthrough if we can figure this out.” 

He continued to work diligently on Derek, but spoke to Stiles. “I know what you are Stiles,” he said, “or rather, what was activated when Gerard Argent killed you.” The way that he said the words made Stiles look up in absolute shock. He had been killed? Terror filled him and he took a deep breath at that. He had been killed? He couldn’t have been…

After that, Deaton seemed to change the subject altogether, something that was infuriating, giving Stiles’ current position. “You’re going to need to go to the hospital and get your wrist casted,” he said as he bound it up. 

“Can you go ahead and explain the ‘what I am’ thing,” Stiles snipped. He was feeling very edgy and the evasive doctor was not helping his situation at all. 

“It came from your mother,” Deaton said, his tone gentle and wise. “It was a genetic gift that was passed down to you from your mother, only activated by the physical death of your body.” 

Stiles paused at that, looking up and thinking about his mother. It had been years since she died but he still missed her every single day. He didn’t understand how this sudden ability could have come from her. Hearing the mention of her just made his heart hurt and twist and he was so tired and he missed her so much.

“It’s demonic in nature,” Deaton said casually. “There was a subset of demons at one point in history that acted as defenders of the natural order. They worked to eliminate murderers and those who took life outside of nature’s time… Basically, murdering people interrupted the flow of nature, you see.” 

“As murdering often does,” Stiles quipped. “Wait, are you saying that my mother was some kind of demon? Because that sounds freaky and rather insulting.” If the man was about to say that his mother was evil or something he was going to lose his shit because he was having a very, very stressful day that involved rescuing a stupid alpha werewolf and using his stupid powers. 

“Your mother knew about her abilities,” Deaton said softly. “If my sources are correct she also used them on several occasions. They were activated when she was hurt, or well, rather killed in a childhood accident.” 

“Okay.”

“Now I want you to listen to me,” Deaton said, pausing in his ministrations. “Demonic power does not mean evil. Demons in modern society are represented as such. Biblical demons were represented as such, but that does not align with what I know. Many demonic halfbreeds walk the earth. Some are evil, I suppose, if you want to use that word but many are not. You are of a strong, just race.” ‘

Stiles took that in and nodded. Okay, he and his mother weren’t a horrible evil. That was good. He could work with that. “Mom saved lives with this?” he asked.

“Undoubtedly,” Deaton replied with an encouraging smile. “I have every reason to believe, by my research, that she used her abilities on one particular occasion to save your father’s life when he was threatened by a murder suspect in 2006.” 

“Just like Stiles saved my life,” Erica said, approaching them. She was never really one to care that she was butting into a conversation. “He’s a hero.” 

“Indeed,” Deaton said. “I know you have much to learn about your abilities, but they will serve the greater good of your pack, no matter what you discover in the future.”

“Okay,” Stiles said. It was all he could say.

It was awhile after the “big reveal” until he was able to talk to Derek. Derek was fine but the poison in his system had left him groggy, out of it and eventually Stiles was pretty sure he slept. The werewolf, however, recovered as rapidly as could be. Finally, after everyone had talked to Stiles about everything possible, they got a chance to talk.

They were finally alone. The werewolf looked to Stiles with an expression that showed just the extent of his drugging. He was even smiling slightly – god he must be high as a kite, Stiles thought. “Thank you,” he said finally, after a long awkward pause that kind of killed Stiles inside. “Thank you for saving me but also for establishing the pack and keeping them safe. You did a better job than I ever could have done myself.” 

“Aw Derek, you’re flattering me,” he said playfully, but Derek missed the chance to say something about it. He was definitely off his game. “You should also be thanking Erica. The girl has balls, well, figuratively.” 

Derek laughed weakly. “You’re something else.” 

“Yeah I know.” 

There was another brutally long pause that lingered for the longest time. Stiles looked at Derek and Derek looked back with a furrowed brow, like he was trying to figure something out. Then Derek leaned forward and Stiles leaned forward and they kissed. He wasn’t sure who initiated it. It kind of just happened like it was spontaneous combustion. He and Derek collided and exploded. The kiss was long and took Stiles’ breath away. Derek grabbed his face, tilted it up and just took the kiss. He took it for his own. 

“Can I safely say that you want this demonic dork?” Stiles whispered. 

“Safely,” Derek said with a hazy smile. 

“About time!” came the groan from Peter in the background. Stiles heard Erica giggle and say, “I’ll agree with you on that, psycho.” 

Stiles was glad to be alive in that moment. Yes, very glad.


End file.
